Systems and methods for enabling internal accelerator subsystem for data analytics via management controller telemetry data

ABSTRACT

An information handling system may include a processor, a management controller configured for out-of-band management of the information handling system, and an internal accelerator communicatively coupled to the management controller and configured to execute an analytics engine for receiving events from the management controller and analyzing the events to perform one or more tasks based on the events.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to information handlingsystems, and more particularly to methods and systems for deploying anoperating system to a smart network interface card and lifecyclemanagement of the network interface card.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Using traditional approaches, a management controller of an informationhandling system may monitor multiple attributes of server hardwarecomponents such as solid state drives, network interface cards, andother components, and communicate events to a remote server. The remoteserver may read and analyze such events in order to perform predictivefailure analysis, provide notifications, and/or perform other tasks. Insuch approaches, the remote server is needed, as the managementcontroller may not possess necessary processing capacity to perform thetasks performed by the remote server. However, many users are notcomfortable in having system data and events communicated over a networkdue to data privacy concerns.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, thedisadvantages and problems associated with processing telemetry data maybe reduced or eliminated.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an informationhandling system may include a processor, a management controllerconfigured for out-of-band management of the information handlingsystem, and an internal accelerator communicatively coupled to themanagement controller and configured to execute an analytics engine forreceiving events from the management controller and analyzing the eventsto perform one or more tasks based on the events.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, an internal accelerator configured to couple to a managementcontroller configured for out-of-band management of an informationhandling system, the internal accelerator further configured to executean analytics engine for receiving events from the management controllerand analyzing the events to perform one or more tasks based on theevents.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, a method may include, in an information handling systemcomprising a management controller configured for out-of-band managementof the information handling system, executing, by an internalaccelerator communicatively coupled to the management controller, ananalytics engine for receiving events from the management controller andanalyzing the events to perform one or more tasks based on the events.

Technical advantages of the present disclosure may be readily apparentto one skilled in the art from the figures, description and claimsincluded herein. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will berealized and achieved at least by the elements, features, andcombinations particularly pointed out in the claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are examples and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the claims set forth in this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantagesthereof may be acquired by referring to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for enablingdata analytics using an internal accelerator, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example method for enablingdata analytics using an internal accelerator, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood byreference to FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein like numbers are used to indicatelike and corresponding parts.

For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system mayinclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate,switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, orutilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business,scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, aninformation handling system may be a personal computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a consumer electronic device, a network storagedevice, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape,performance, functionality, and price. The information handling systemmay include memory, one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) or hardware or software control logic.Additional components of the information handling system may include oneor more storage devices, one or more communications ports forcommunicating with external devices as well as various input/output(“I/O”) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. Theinformation handling system may also include one or more buses operableto transmit communication between the various hardware components.

For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may includeany instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retaindata and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable mediamay include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct accessstorage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequentialaccess storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM,DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; aswell as communications media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves,radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/orany combination of the foregoing.

For the purposes of this disclosure, information handling resources maybroadly refer to any component system, device or apparatus of aninformation handling system, including without limitation processors,service processors, basic input/output systems, buses, memories, I/Odevices and/or interfaces, storage resources, network interfaces,motherboards, and/or any other components and/or elements of aninformation handling system.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 100 for enablingdata analytics using an internal accelerator, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, system 100may include an information handling system 102, a network 120, and anetwork share 122.

In some embodiments, information handling system 102 may comprise or bean integral part of a server. In other embodiments, information handlingsystem 102 may be a personal computer. In these and other embodiments,information handling system 102 may be a portable information handlingsystem (e.g., a laptop, notebook, tablet, handheld, smart phone,personal digital assistant, etc.). As depicted in FIG. 1, informationhandling system 102 may include a processor 103, a memory 104communicatively coupled to processor 103, a basic input/output (BIOS)system 105 communicatively coupled to processor 103, a managementcontroller 112 communicatively coupled to processor 103, and an internalaccelerator 108 communicatively coupled to management controller 112.

Processor 103 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured tointerpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data, andmay include, without limitation, a microprocessor, microcontroller,digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuitry configured to interpretand/or execute program instructions and/or process data. In someembodiments, processor 103 may interpret and/or execute programinstructions and/or process data stored in memory 104 and/or anothercomponent of information handling system 102.

Memory 104 may be communicatively coupled to processor 103 and mayinclude any system, device, or apparatus configured to retain programinstructions and/or data for a period of time (e.g., computer-readablemedia). Memory 104 may include RAM, EEPROM, a PCMCIA card, flash memory,magnetic storage, opto-magnetic storage, or any suitable selectionand/or array of volatile or non-volatile memory that retains data afterpower to information handling system 102 is turned off.

BIOS 105 may be communicatively coupled to processor 103 and may includeany system, device, or apparatus configured to identify, test, and/orinitialize information handling resources of information handling system102. “BIOS” may broadly refer to any system, device, or apparatusconfigured to perform such functionality, including without limitation,a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). In some embodiments,BIOS 105 may be implemented as a program of instructions that may beread by and executed on processor 103 to carry out the functionality ofBIOS 105. In these and other embodiments, BIOS 105 may comprise bootfirmware configured to be the first code executed by processor 103 wheninformation handling system 102 is booted and/or powered on. As part ofits initialization functionality, code for BIOS 105 may be configured toset components of information handling system 102 into a known state, sothat one or more applications (e.g., an operating system or otherapplication programs) stored on compatible media (e.g., memory 104) maybe executed by processor 103 and given control of information handlingsystem 102.

Management controller 112 may be configured to provide out-of-bandmanagement facilities for management of information handling system 102.Such management may be made by management controller 112 even ifinformation handling system 102 is powered off or powered to a standbystate. Management controller 112 may include a processor 113, memory114, and an out-of-band network interface 118. In certain embodiments,management controller 112 may include or may be an integral part of abaseboard management controller (BMC), a remote access controller (e.g.,a Dell Remote Access Controller or Integrated Dell Remote AccessController), or an enclosure controller. In other embodiments,management controller 112 may include or may be an integral part of achassis management controller (CMC).

Processor 113 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured tointerpret and/or execute program instructions and/or process data, andmay include, without limitation, a microprocessor, microcontroller,digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuitry configured to interpretand/or execute program instructions and/or process data. In someembodiments, processor 113 may interpret and/or execute programinstructions and/or process data stored in memory 114 and/or anothercomponent of information handling system 102 or management controller112.

Memory 114 may be communicatively coupled to processor 113 and mayinclude any system, device, or apparatus configured to retain programinstructions and/or data for a period of time (e.g., computer-readablemedia). Memory 114 may include RAM, EEPROM, a PCMCIA card, flash memory,magnetic storage, opto-magnetic storage, or any suitable selectionand/or array of volatile or non-volatile memory that retains data afterpower to management controller 112 is turned off. Memory 114 may havestored thereon software and/or firmware which may be read and executedby processor 113 for carrying out the functionality of managementcontroller 112.

Network interface 118 may comprise any suitable system, apparatus, ordevice operable to serve as an interface between management controller112 and/or one or more other information handling systems. Networkinterface 118 may enable management controller 112 to communicate usingany suitable transmission protocol and/or standard. In these and otherembodiments, network interface 118 may comprise a network interfacecard, or “NIC.”

Internal accelerator 108 may be coupled to processor 113 of managementcontroller 112 via any suitable interface (e.g., a Peripheral ComponentInterconnect Express Vendor Defined Message (PCIe VDM) interface), andmay comprise any suitable system, apparatus, or device operable to readand analyze events associated with management controller 112 and basedon such events, perform predictive failure analysis, providenotifications, and/or perform other tasks, as described in greaterdetail below. In some embodiments, internal accelerator 108 may beimplemented as a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

In addition to processor 103, memory 104, BIOS 105, managementcontroller 112, and internal accelerator 108, information handlingsystem 102 may include one or more other information handling resources.

Network 120 may comprise a network and/or fabric configured to coupleinformation handling system 102 and network share 122 to each otherand/or one or more other information handling systems. In these andother embodiments, network 120 may include a communicationinfrastructure, which provides physical connections, and a managementlayer, which organizes the physical connections and information handlingsystems communicatively coupled to network 120. Network 120 may beimplemented as, or may be a part of, a storage area network (SAN),personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN), a metropolitanarea network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN), a virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, theInternet or any other appropriate architecture or system thatfacilitates the communication of signals, data and/or messages(generally referred to as data). Network 120 may transmit data viawireless transmissions and/or wire-line transmissions using any storageand/or communication protocol, including without limitation, FibreChannel, Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internetprotocol (IP), other packet-based protocol, small computer systeminterface (SCSI), Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) orany other transport that operates with the SCSI protocol, advancedtechnology attachment (ATA), serial ATA (SATA), advanced technologyattachment packet interface (ATAPI), serial storage architecture (SSA),integrated drive electronics (IDE), and/or any combination thereof.Network 120 and its various components may be implemented usinghardware, software, or any combination thereof.

Network share 122 may comprise an information handling system, and mayinclude any system, device, or apparatus configured to store orotherwise maintain a training data set defining parameters and/orpolicies by which internal accelerator 108 may analyze events, predictfailures based on such events, provide notifications, and/or performother tasks, as described in greater detail below.

In operation, management controller 112 may read a training data setfrom network share 122 and communicate the training data set to internalaccelerator 108. Management controller 112 may also enable an analyticspersona on internal accelerator 108, wherein such analytics persona mayexecute an application needed to execute an analytics engine on internalaccelerator 108. In some embodiments, management controller 112 mayenable multiple personas on internal accelerator 108, to allow internalaccelerator 108 to execute multiple analytics operations. Whileexecuting the analytics engine, internal accelerator 108 may consumeevents generated by management controller 112, analyze such events, andperform predictive failure analysis, provide notifications, and/orperform other tasks based on such events and the training data set.Further, internal accelerator 108 may communicate results of suchfailure analysis and tasks and such notifications to managementcontroller 112, which may further handle or process such informationaccordingly.

In some embodiments, multiple management controllers coupled to network120 may contribute to the training data set ultimately provided tointernal accelerator 108.

Using the novel approach described herein, management controller 112 mayleverage an add-in shared or dedicated internal accelerator 108, eitherof which might not have access to network share 122, and thus managementcontroller 112 may provide the whole range of internal accelerator 108setup and input requirements.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example method 200 for enablingdata analytics using internal accelerator 108, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. According to some embodiments,method 200 may begin at step 202. As noted above, teachings of thepresent disclosure may be implemented in a variety of configurations ofinformation handling system 102. As such, the preferred initializationpoint for method 200 and the order of the steps comprising method 200may depend on the implementation chosen.

At step 202, management controller 112 may enable an analytics personaon internal accelerator 108, wherein such analytics persona may executean application needed to execute an analytics engine on internalaccelerator 108. At step 204, management controller 112 may read atraining data set from network share 122 and communicate the trainingdata set to internal accelerator 108. At step 206, internal accelerator108 may execute the analytics engine and consume events generated bymanagement controller 112. At step 208, internal accelerator 108 mayanalyze such events, and perform predictive failure analysis, providenotifications, and/or perform other tasks based on such events and thetraining data set. At step 210, internal accelerator 108 may communicateresults of such failure analysis and tasks and such notifications tomanagement controller 112, which may further handle or process suchinformation accordingly. After completion of step 210, method 200 mayproceed again to step 206.

Although FIG. 2 discloses a particular number of steps to be taken withrespect to method 200, method 200 may be executed with greater or fewersteps than those depicted in FIG. 2. In addition, although FIG. 2discloses a certain order of steps to be taken with respect to method200, the steps comprising method 200 may be completed in any suitableorder.

Method 200 may be implemented using information handling system 102 orany other system operable to implement method 200. In certainembodiments, method 200 may be implemented partially or fully insoftware and/or firmware embodied in computer-readable media.

As used herein, when two or more elements are referred to as “coupled”to one another, such term indicates that such two or more elements arein electronic communication or mechanical communication, as applicable,whether connected indirectly or directly, with or without interveningelements.

This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations,alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that aperson having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Similarly,where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exampleembodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art wouldcomprehend. Moreover, reference in the appended claims to an apparatusor system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to,arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, oroperative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus,system, or component, whether or not it or that particular function isactivated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, orcomponent is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled,operable, or operative. Accordingly, modifications, additions, oromissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods describedherein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example,the components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated orseparated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other componentsand the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps.Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. As used inthis document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of asubset of a set.

Although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures anddescribed above, the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known ornot. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplaryimplementations and techniques illustrated in the figures and describedabove.

Unless otherwise specifically noted, articles depicted in the figuresare not necessarily drawn to scale.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the disclosureand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare construed as being without limitation to such specifically recitedexamples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosurehave been described in detail, it should be understood that variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, variousembodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages.Additionally, other technical advantages may become readily apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art after review of the foregoing figuresand description.

To aid the Patent Office and any readers of any patent issued on thisapplication in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wishto note that they do not intend any of the appended claims or claimelements to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the words “means for” or“step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information handling system comprising: aprocessor; a management controller configured for out-of-band managementof the information handling system; and an internal acceleratorcommunicatively coupled to the management controller and configured toexecute an analytics engine for: receiving events from the managementcontroller; and analyzing the events to perform one or more tasks basedon the events.
 2. The information handling system of claim 1, whereinthe one or more tasks comprise one or more of predictive failureanalysis and communication of notifications.
 3. The information handlingsystem of claim 1, wherein the internal accelerator is implemented usinga field-programmable gate array.
 4. The information handling system ofclaim 1, wherein the management controller is further configured toenable an analytics persona on the internal accelerator that enables theinternal accelerator to execute the analytics engine.
 5. The informationhandling system of claim 1, wherein the management controller is furtherconfigured to: obtain training data from a network share communicativelycoupled to the management controller; and communicate the training datato the internal accelerator for use in executing the analytics engine.6. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the managementcontroller is further configured to enable multiple analytics personason the internal accelerator, to allow the internal accelerator toexecute multiple analytics operations.
 7. The information handlingsystem of claim 1, wherein functionality of the internal accelerator isshared by the management controller and at least one other informationhandling resource.
 8. An internal accelerator configured to couple to amanagement controller configured for out-of-band management of aninformation handling system, the internal accelerator further configuredto execute an analytics engine for: receiving events from the managementcontroller; and analyzing the events to perform one or more tasks basedon the events.
 9. The internal accelerator of claim 8, wherein the oneor more tasks comprise one or more of predictive failure analysis andcommunication of notifications.
 10. The internal accelerator of claim 8,wherein the internal accelerator is implemented using afield-programmable gate array.
 11. The internal accelerator of claim 8,wherein the internal accelerator is configured such that the managementcontroller enables an analytics persona on the internal accelerator thatenables the internal accelerator to execute the analytics engine. 12.The internal accelerator of claim 8, further configured to obtaintraining data from the management controller for use in executing theanalytics engine, wherein the management controller obtains the trainingdata from a network share communicatively coupled to the managementcontroller.
 13. The internal accelerator of claim 8, wherein theinternal accelerator may include multiple analytics personas, to allowthe internal accelerator to execute multiple analytics operations. 14.The internal accelerator of claim 8, wherein functionality of theinternal accelerator is shared by the management controller and at leastone other information handling resource of the information handlingsystem.
 15. A method comprising, in an information handling systemcomprising a management controller configured for out-of-band managementof the information handling system, executing, by an internalaccelerator communicatively coupled to the management controller, ananalytics engine for: receiving events from the management controller;and analyzing the events to perform one or more tasks based on theevents.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more taskscomprise one or more of predictive failure analysis and communication ofnotifications.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the internalaccelerator is implemented using a field-programmable gate array. 18.The method of claim 15, further comprising enabling, by the managementcontroller, an analytics persona on the internal accelerator thatenables the internal accelerator to execute the analytics engine. 19.The method of claim 15, further comprising obtaining, by the internalaccelerator, training data from the management controller for use inexecuting the analytics engine, wherein the management controllerobtains the training data from a network share communicatively coupledto the management controller.
 20. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising enabling, by the management controller, multiple analyticspersonas on the internal accelerator, to allow the internal acceleratorto execute multiple analytics operations.
 21. The method of claim 15,further comprising sharing functionality of the internal accelerator bythe management controller and at least one other information handlingresource.